The 3 Most Powerful Rules for Writing I Learned by BOMBING My Last Post
The polls are in. I’ve gotten SO much feedback.
The polls are in. I’ve gotten SO much feedback.
It’s kind of amazing.
I wrote 2 posts this past week that got more critical feedback than all of my other work combined. It would have been easy to criticize and deflect it, but what good does that do?
This is a perfect opportunity for a reality-check on my work.
With the help of my readers, I’ve been able to write this list of rules for all of my future writing.
Yeah, it’s a list.
1. Put yourself out there and be more vulnerable
Kind of a no-brainer, but I’ll be honest; I didn’t really notice I wasn’t doing it at first. Posting anything on the internet can be scary enough, let alone something personal.
This means I’ll be posting more poetry, alongside articles like these. Currently, I publish to Poets Unlimited, right here on Medium.
It also means I’ll be integrating more psychology, neuroscience, and business philosophy.
2. All writing must be NEW and uniquely valuable
Let’s be clear, I don’t (at least, don’t knowingly) spin or recycle content.
But there are some topics, like ‘life hacking’ and ‘productivity’ about which COUNTLESS unqualified and qualified authors have disseminated their opinions and personal research.
Each new post must be a totally unique thought or perspective, as far as I can honestly know.
When I step back and think about why I’m writing in the first place, it’s because I want to bring better information to more people. I want to make better information accessible and palatable to a broader audience.
By writing about the same stuff, even if I have a different opinion about it, I’m just saturating an oversaturated space. I’m becoming like everyone else, and that’s not fair to readers.
3. Focus on one thing only, and really dive deeply into it
So many people felt like the didn’t get what they signed up for when they read my article.
This just broke my heart.
Sometimes, though, it takes a heartbreak to realize what’s truly important. Readers felt like the message was watered down in content and in language. My goal was to enrich, not dilute!
Thankfully, this beautiful failure has led to a new mantra.
By listening to feedback and creating an action plan for change, each of you have equipped me to be a better writer.
I can’t thank you each enough.
Thanks for reading.
Your feedback means everything to me. 🙌 Let me know what you think in the comments or reach out to me on twitter. I’d love to hear your thoughts so I can continue to improve my message.